I’ve been wearing my platinum wedding ring for about 10 years now, and either it’s shrunk or my fingers have gotten bigger. I’d like to have it resized so I can take it off when convenient - it snags on things when I’m working on the car, and one day it’s going to pull my whole finger off - , but that of course means getting it off in the first place, and the damn thing just won’t shift past my second knuckle, no matter what I lube it up with. I really don’t want to cut it: is there any recommended way of shrinking a finger, widening a ring, or some sort of super-grease?
Well, you could always try holding your hand up (ie fingers point up) this allows blood to drain from your hand, making your fingers smaller. Combining that with some sort of lubricant might work.
Sorry about your ring shrinking. 
I have weird knuckles that let rings go on easily, but don’t want them to come off, so I have been in this situation many times. Here are some things I have learned:
Cold is helpful, so the winter is a good time for removal, or, given that it’s June, you can ice pack your hand.
Windex is a great lubricant. Also hair conditioner.
There is a method using dental floss – although I think actually, the dental floss that is really dental TAPE is better, the kind that is flat. You wrap the dental floss around your knuckle, starting at the hand side and moving up toward the fingertip, sort of like when you were a kid and wrapped string around your finger to cut off the circulation. The goal is to move the ring up over the floss until you can start unwrapping the floss from behind the ring. Obviously, it is not good to have your finger wrapped up like this for very long, so you want to work quickly.
Edited to add: If you google “ring removal dental floss” with an image search, the pictures make this a lot more clear than what I described.
Definitely try icing your hand and holding it fingers-up above your head for a while.
Try also deliberately slowing your breathing, calming down, etc.
If you haven’t already, you might try a silicone lubricant. I’ve had good results with TwoToms SportShield (which I keep on hand for blister and chafing relief; it’s one of those modern luxuries I never want to be without now that I know it exists). If you have any household silicone lube around I’d think that’d be worth trying, too, especially the tube-squeezy kind as opposed to the can-spraying kind… anything in a lube that might irritate your skin could also make your fingers swell a little. I’d avoid Windex for that reason. Lotion and conditioner tend to help skin or hair retain moisture (and stay plump), so might be counterproductive in a tricky case like yours.
My WAG to add to delphica’s advice: I bet a dental tape that’s extra-slippery, like Crest Glide or OralB Satin, rather than plain waxed, would be helpful.
I just had my wedding set cut off and one day I’ll have it largened (yes, it came from a people’s mouth so it’s a word) or turned into a new ring.
Windex is great for removing too-tight rings, but yeah, cutting it off will work as a last resort. I am wearing a ring right now that was cut off and repaired.
http://www.diylife.com/2008/06/26/use-dental-floss-to-remove-a-stuck-ring/
Waxed dental floss- works like a charm. You wrap the floss in front of the ring and tuck the end under the ring. Slowly pull the floss and it draws the ring over the floss and off.
I have done this and it really works.
I agree with all the cold/hands in the air/Windex advice.
You might also try going to the jewelry where you plan on getting it resized, and ask them - rings get stuck on people at jewelers’ pretty often when people squeeze into too-small sizes, so I imagine they’re pretty adept at getting them off.
I thought the word was “embiggened”.
Definitely try the Windex.
I had a ring that I wore on the middle finger of my left hand. When I got engaged, I wanted to get the ring off so it wouldn’t click against my engagement ring all the time, but it had gotten out of round (it was 10K and kind of molded to my finger). It wouldn’t come over my knuckle. I went into a jeweler and asked about cutting it off. The guy behind the counter said OK, hold out your hand. So I did, and he reached down under the counter. I figured he was going to get some kind of measuring device, so wasn’t paying much attention when he came back with a bottle of Windex and sprayed my hand! :eek: 
I was trying to think of the words for YOU FREAK, WHAT KIND OF PERVERSION IS THIS when he smiled and said “Now try it.”
Slipped right off.
Wow. That’s a lot of Windex recommendations. Can anyone explain how/why it works so well?
I think the ammonia temporarily shrinks the tissue. No cite available.
ETA: **emmaliminal **suggests avoiding the Windex because it might irritate the skin. Yes, it might, but as a person with unbelievably sensitive skin, I would say that it would be worth it to me to have a five-second (and that really was about all the time it took) exposure to the Windex to get a troublesome ring off. Have a bowl of warm water and gentle cleanser, whatever kind you use (Eucerin, Cetaphil) nearby, and then use a soothing cream or ointment, and I think you would be OK.
It’s an ancient Greek secret.
“Put some Windex” - Gus from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, solves pretty much any problem.
Because it’s formula was engineered on a Mac. It doesn’t do Windows.
Well, sure…if you’re from the South or somethin’…
Nitpick: You misspelled “Springfield” as “the South”.
I always used Vaseline and it seems to work very well.
Many thanks. Looks like dental floss and windex are the go.
I know you don’t want to have it cut, but if you are going to get it resized, the jewler is going to cut it anyway, so that might still be an option.
If he’s having the ring sized up, there will be no cutting. The jeweler has a tool to stretch the ring out. They only cut when sizing a ring down.